A stampede killed 16 people and injured nearly 50 during a religious ceremony in the northern Indian city of Haridwar in Uttrakhand state. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
@WiL

The horror began when some devotees tripped and fell while worshipers behind them continued to push forward, the BBC reported, adding that women and children were among the dead and injured.

“More worshipers turned up than the place could accommodate and so the stampede occurred,” D Santhel Pandiyan, a local official, told AFP news agency.

Thousands of pilgrims attended the ceremony to celebrate the 100th birthday of Sri Ram Sharma, the founder of Gayatri Parivar, a Hindu sect, reports BBC news.

Haridwar is regarded as one of the seven holiest places to Hindus where religious ceremonies are conducted on the banks of the Ganges River every year. Hundreds of thousands of people flock to Haridwar yearly to bathe in the river. The devotees believe they are cleansed from sin after washing in the Ganges.

Such stampedes are not a rarity in India as they occur multiple times a year during religious ceremonies. Back in January, a stampede near a temple killed more than 100 people in southern India. Also, 60 people were killed back in March at a temple in the Uttar Pradesh state.
DN